the Sukkiims--Some think these were the Kenite Arabs, dwellers in tents, but others maintain more justly that these were Arab troglodytes, who inhabited the caverns of a mountain range on the western coast of the Red Sea.
and the Ethiopians--from the regions south of Egypt. By the overwhelming force of numbers, they took the fortresses of Judah which had been recently put in a state of defense, and marched to lay siege to the capital. While Shishak and his army was before Jerusalem, the prophet Shemaiah addressed Rehoboam and the princes, tracing this calamity to the national apostasy and threatening them with utter destruction in consequence of having forsaken God ([2Ch 12:6]).
6. the princes of Israel--(compare [2Ch 12:5], "the princes of Judah").
7-8. when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves--Their repentance and contrition was followed by the best effects; for Shemaiah was commissioned to announce that the phial of divine judgment would not be fully poured out on them--that the entire overthrow of the kingdom of Judah would not take place at that time, nor through the agency of Shishak; and yet, although it should enjoy a respite from total subversion, [Judah] should become a tributary province of Egypt in order that the people might learn how much lighter and better is the service of God than that of idolatrous foreign despots.
9. So Shishak ... came up against Jerusalem--After the parenthetical clause ([2Ch 12:5-8]) describing the feelings and state of the beleaguered court, the historian resumes his narrative of the attack upon Jerusalem, and the consequent pillage both of the temple and the palace.
he took all--that is, everything valuable he found. The cost of the targets and shields has been estimated at about £239,000 [Napier, Ancient Workers in Metal].
the shields of gold--made by Solomon, were kept in the house of the forest of Lebanon ([2Ch 9:16]). They seem to have been borne, like maces, by the guards of the palace, when they attended the king to the temple or on other public processions. Those splendid insignia having been plundered by the Egyptian conqueror, others were made of inferior metal and kept in the guard room of the palace, to be ready for use; as, notwithstanding the tarnished glory of the court, the old state etiquette was kept up on public and solemn occasions. An account of this conquest of Judah, with the name of "king of Judah" in the cartouche of the principal captive, according to the interpreters, is carved and written in hieroglyphics on the walls of the great palace of Karnak, where it may be seen at the present day. This sculpture is about twenty-seven hundred years old, and is of peculiar interest as a striking testimony from Egypt to the truth of Scripture history.
12. when he humbled himself, the wrath of the Lord turned from him--The promise ([2Ch 12:7]) was verified. Divine providence preserved the kingdom in existence, a reformation was made in the court, while true religion and piety were diffused throughout the land.
[2Ch 12:13-16]. His Reign and Death.
13-14. Rehoboam strengthened ... and reigned--The Egyptian invasion had been a mere predatory expedition, not extending beyond the limits of Judah, and probably, ere long, repelled by the invaded. Rehoboam's government acquired new life and vigor by the general revival of true religion, and his reign continued many years after the departure of Shishak. But
he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord--that is, he did not adhere firmly to the good course of reformation he had begun, "and he did evil," for through the unhappy influence of his mother, a heathen foreigner, he had no doubt received in his youth a strong bias towards idolatry (see on [1Ki 14:21]).
Chapter 13
[2Ch 13:1-20]. Abijah, Succeeding, Makes War against Jeroboam, and Overcomes Him.
2. His mother's name also was Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel--the same as Maachah (see on [1Ki 15:2]). She was "the daughter," that is, granddaughter of Absalom ([1Ki 15:2]; compare [2Sa 14:1-33]), mother of Abijah, "mother," that is, grandmother ([1Ki 15:10], Margin) of Asa.
of Gibeah--probably implies that Uriel was connected with the house of Saul.
there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam--The occasion of this war is not recorded (see [1Ki 15:6], ), but it may be inferred from the tenor of Abijah's address that it arose from his youthful ambition to recover the full hereditary dominion of his ancestors. No prophet now forbade a war with Israel ([2Ch 11:23]) for Jeroboam had forfeited all claim to protection.
3. Abijah set the battle in array--that is, took the field and opened the campaign.
with ... four hundred thousand chosen men ... Jeroboam with eight hundred thousand--These are, doubtless, large numbers, considering the smallness of the two kingdoms. It must be borne in mind, however, that Oriental armies are mere mobs--vast numbers accompanying the camp in hope of plunder, so that the gross numbers described as going upon an Asiatic expedition are often far from denoting the exact number of fighting men. But in accounting for the large number of soldiers enlisted in the respective armies of Abijah and Jeroboam, there is no need of resorting to this mode of explanation; for we know by the census of David the immense number of the population that was capable of bearing arms ([1Ch 21:5]; compare [2Ch 14:8]; ).
4-12. Abijah stood up upon Mount Zemaraim--He had entered the enemy's territory and was encamped on an eminence near Beth-el ([Jos 18:22]). Jeroboam's army lay at the foot of the hill, and as a pitched battle was expected, Abijah, according to the singular usage of ancient times, harangued the enemy. The speakers in such circumstances, while always extolling their own merits, poured out torrents of invective and virulent abuse upon the adversary. So did Abijah. He dwelt on the divine right of the house of David to the throne; and sinking all reference to the heaven-condemned offenses of Solomon and the divine appointment of Jeroboam, as well as the divine sanction of the separation, he upbraided Jeroboam as a usurper, and his subjects as rebels, who took advantage of the youth and inexperience of Rehoboam. Then contrasting the religious state of the two kingdoms, he drew a black picture of the impious innovations and gross idolatry introduced by Jeroboam, with his expulsion and impoverishment ([2Ch 11:14]) of the Levites. He dwelt with reasonable pride on the pure and regular observance of the ancient institutions of Moses in his own dominion [2Ch 13:11] and concluded with this emphatic appeal: "O children of Israel, fight ye not against Jehovah, the God of your fathers, for ye shall not prosper."
13-17. But Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind them--The oration of Abijah, however animating an effect it might have produced on his own troops, was unheeded by the party to whom it was addressed; for while he was wasting time in useless words, Jeroboam had ordered a detachment of his men to move quietly round the base of the hill, so that when Abijah stopped speaking, he and his followers found themselves surprised in the rear, while the main body of the Israelitish forces remained in front. A panic might have ensued, had not the leaders "cried unto the Lord," and the priests "sounded with the trumpets"--the pledge of victory ([Nu 10:9]; ). Reassured by the well-known signal, the men of Judah responded with a war shout, which, echoed by the whole army, was followed by an impetuous rush against the foe. The shock was resistless. The ranks of the Israelites were broken, for "God smote Jeroboam and all Israel." They took to flight, and the merciless slaughter that ensued can be accounted for only by tracing it to the rancorous passions enkindled by a civil war.
19. Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him--This sanguinary action widened the breach between the people of the two kingdoms. Abijah abandoned his original design of attempting the subjugation of the ten tribes, contenting himself with the recovery of a few border towns, which, though lying within Judah or Benjamin, had been alienated to the new or northern kingdom. Among these was Beth-el, which, with its sacred associations, he might be strongly desirous to wrest from profanation.
20. Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah--The disastrous action at Zemaraim, which caused the loss of the flower and chivalry of his army, broke his spirits and crippled his power.
the Lord struck him, and he died--that is, Jeroboam. He lived, indeed, two years after the death of Abijah ([1Ki 14:20]; ). But he had been threatened with great calamities upon himself and his house, and it is apparently to the execution of these threatenings, which issued in his death, that an anticipatory reference is here made.
Chapter 14
[2Ch 14:1-5]. Asa Destroys Idolatry.
1. In his days the land was quiet ten years--This long interval of peace was the continued effect of the great battle of Zemaraim (compare [1Ki 15:11-14]).
2. Asa did that which was good and right--(compare [1Ki 15:14]). Still his character and life were not free from faults ([2Ch 16:7], [10, 12]).
3. brake down the images--of Baal (see on [2Ch 34:4]; [Le 26:30]).
cut down the groves--rather, "Asherim."
5. he took away ... the high places--that is, those devoted to idolatrous rites.
took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images--All public objects and relics of idolatry in Jerusalem and other cities through his kingdom were destroyed; but those high places where God was worshipped under the figure of an ox, as at Beth-el, were allowed to remain ([1Ki 15:14]); so far the reformation was incomplete.
[2Ch 14:6-8]. Having Peace, He Strengthens His Kingdom with Forts and Armies.
6. he built fenced cities in Judah--(See on [1Ki 15:22]).
7. while the land is yet before us--that is, while we have free and undisputed progress everywhere; no foe is near; but, as this happy time of peace may not last always and the kingdom is but small and weak, let us prepare suitable defenses in case of need. He had also an army of five hundred eighty thousand men. Judah furnished the heavily armed soldiers, and Benjamin the archers. This large number does not mean a body of professional soldiers, but all capable of bearing arms and liable to be called into service.
[2Ch 14:9-15]. He Overcomes Zerah, and Spoils the Ethiopians.
9. there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian--This could not have been from Ethiopia south of the cataracts of the Nile, for in the reign of Osorkon I, successor of Shishak, no foreign army would have been allowed a free passage through Egypt. Zerah must, therefore, have been chief of the Cushites, or Ethiopians of Arabia, as they were evidently a nomad horde who had a settlement of tents and cattle in the neighborhood of Gerar.
a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots--"Twenty camels employed to carry couriers upon them might have procured that number of men to meet in a short time. As Zerah was the aggressor, he had time to choose when he would summon these men and attack the enemy. Every one of these Cushite shepherds, carrying with them their own provisions of flour and water, as is their invariable custom, might have fought with Asa without eating a loaf of Zerah's bread or drinking a pint of his water" [Bruce, Travels].
10. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array ... at Mareshah--one of the towns which Rehoboam fortified ([2Ch 11:8]), near a great southern pass in the low country of Judah ([Jos 15:44]). The engagement between the armies took place in a plain near the town, called "the valley of Zephathah," supposed to be the broad way coming down Beit Jibrin towards Tell Es-Safren [Robinson].
11-13. Asa cried unto the Lord his God--Strong in the confidence that the power of God was able to give the victory equally with few as with many, the pious king marched with a comparatively small force to encounter the formidable host of marauders at his southern frontier. Committing his cause to God, he engaged in the conflict--completely routed the enemy, and succeeded in obtaining, as the reward of his victory, a rich booty in treasure and cattle from the tents of this pastoral horde.
Chapter 15
[2Ch 15:1-15]. Judah Makes a Solemn Covenant with God.
1. Azariah the son of Oded--This prophet, who is mentioned nowhere else, appears at this stage of the sacred story in the discharge of an interesting mission. He went to meet Asa, as he was returning from his victorious pursuit of the Ethiopians, and the congratulatory address here recorded was publicly made to the king in presence of his army.
2. The Lord is with you, while ye be with him--You have had, in your recent signal success, a remarkable proof that God's blessing is upon you; your victory has been the reward of your faith and piety. If you steadfastly adhere to the cause of God, you may expect a continuance of His favor; but if you abandon it, you will soon reap the bitter fruits of apostasy.
3-6. Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, &c.--Some think that Azariah was referring to the sad and disastrous condition to which superstition and idolatry had brought the neighboring kingdom of Israel. His words should rather be taken in a wider sense, for it seems manifest that the prophet had his eye upon many periods in the national history, when the people were in the state described--a state of spiritual destitution and ignorance--and exhibited its natural result as widespread anarchy, mutual dissension among the tribes, and general suffering ([Jud 9:23]; ; ; [2Ch 13:17]). These calamities God permitted to befall them as the punishment of their apostasy. Azariah's object in these remarks was to establish the truth of his counsel ([2Ch 15:2]), threatening, in case of neglecting it by describing the uniform course of the divine procedure towards Israel, as shown in all periods of their history. Then after this appeal to national experience, he concluded with an earnest exhortation to the king to prosecute the work of reformation so well begun [2Ch 15:7].
7. Be ye strong--Great resolution and indomitable energy would be required to persevere in the face of the opposition your reforming measures will encounter.